State v. Worley

677 S.E.2d 540, 2009 WL 1658559
CourtCourt of Appeals of North Carolina
DecidedJune 16, 2009
DocketCOA08-1532
StatusPublished

This text of 677 S.E.2d 540 (State v. Worley) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of North Carolina primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Worley, 677 S.E.2d 540, 2009 WL 1658559 (N.C. Ct. App. 2009).

Opinion

677 S.E.2d 540 (2009)

STATE of North Carolina
v.
Roy Dean WORLEY.

No. COA08-1532.

Court of Appeals of North Carolina.

June 16, 2009.

*541 Attorney General Roy Cooper, by Assistant Attorney General Jane Ammons Gilchrist, for the State.

Daniel J. Clifton, Charlotte, for Defendant.

ERVIN, Judge.

Roy Dean Worley (Defendant) appeals from judgment entered 8 July 2008 convicting him of willfully violating the change of address requirements applicable to registered sex offenders in violation of N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-208.11(a)(2) and sentencing him to a term of 107 to 138 months incarceration in the custody of the North Carolina Department of Correction.[1] After careful consideration of Defendant's arguments on appeal, we find no error.

At trial, the State presented evidence which tended to show that Defendant pled guilty to four counts of taking indecent liberties with a child in violation of N.C. Gen.Stat. § 14-202.1. Judgment was entered against Defendant on the basis of these guilty pleas on 15 April 2006. Defendant was thereafter required to register as a sex offender pursuant to N.C. Gen.Stat. § 14-208.7(a). According to N.C. Gen.Stat. § 14-208.9(a), "[i]f a person required to register changes address, the person shall report in person and provide written notice of the new address not later than the tenth day after the change ... of address."

Detective Courtney Mumm (Detective Mumm) of the Buncombe County Sheriff's Department oversaw the sex offender registration program in Buncombe County from the beginning of 2005 through February 2008. In 2004, Defendant received an address verification notice sent to him by the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) at an address in the Lee Walker Heights Apartments in Asheville, North Carolina (Lee Walker Heights).[2] Defendant returned the letter, indicating that he had moved to Candler Knob Road in Asheville, North Carolina (Candler Knob), on 14 September 2004.

On 19 May 2005, Defendant submitted a notice of change of address indicating that he had moved back to Lee Walker Heights. At this time, Defendant lived with Laura Thomen (Thomen) despite the fact that the rules of the Asheville Housing Authority (Housing Authority), which operated Lee Walker Heights, and Thomen's lease prohibited registered sex offenders from residing there. As a result of this violation of the terms and conditions of her lease, Thomen and everyone living in her Lee Walker Height's apartment, including Defendant, were evicted.

After Detective Mumm mentioned that Defendant was living with Thomen despite his status as a convicted sex offender, Cornelia Battle, the Manager of Lee Walker Heights (Battle), called Thomen in for a conference and told her that her lease would be cancelled. *542 A notice instructing Thomen to vacate the Lee Walker Heights apartment was sent in July. The Housing Authority obtained the issuance of a Magistrate's Summons against Thomen on 29 July 2005. The court date specified in the Magistrate's Summons was 11 August 2005. According to one of Battle's records dated 30 August 2005, Thomen left her key in the drop box on 10 August 2005. After the court date, representatives of the sheriff's department changed the locks on Thomen's apartment. Defendant stopped living in Lee Walker Heights after the Housing Authority changed the locks.

The SBI sent an address verification notice to Defendant at his Lee Walker Heights address in 2005, but it was returned unclaimed. After becoming concerned that Defendant had left Lee Walker Heights without updating his address, Detective Mumm went to the Candler Knob address in an unsuccessful attempt to locate him. Detective Mumm had no contact with Defendant until he completed a change of address notice on 16 September 2005, in which Defendant stated that he had moved back to Candler Knob. On the form which he submitted to the sheriff's department at that time, Defendant stated that the effective date of his change of address was 16 September 2005.

In his own testimony, Defendant acknowledged having been convicted of a reportable offense in Haywood County and that he understood that he was required to register as a sex offender. After being placed on the registry, Defendant has changed his address ten or fifteen times. Defendant admitted knowing that, when he moved, he had ten days within which to notify the sheriff's department of his new address.

Defendant stated that after leaving Lee Walker Heights, he went back to Candler Knob. He then moved from Candler Knob to Kenilworth. Defendant testified that he had been homeless for three and one-half years, that he stayed in a van that resembled a camper, and that Detective Mumm was not able to locate him at Candler Knob because he was staying in the camper rather than the house.

Defendant went to the sheriff's department after he left Lee Walker Heights and changed his address to Candler Knob. At that time, Defendant did not talk to Detective Mumm; instead, he filled out some paperwork and gave it to the officer at the front desk, who said that the paperwork would be given to Detective Mumm. Although Defendant did not give a specific date when he went to the sheriff's department, he testified that he might have gone on 16 September 2005.[3]

On 19 October 2005, a warrant charging Defendant with failure to notify the sheriff's department of his change of address was issued. On 7 August 2006, the Buncombe County grand jury returned an indictment charging Defendant with failing to provide written notice of his change of address within the required ten day period. On 8 July 2008, a jury convicted Defendant of failing to comply with the sex offender registration law.[4] On the same date, the trial court entered judgment sentencing Defendant to a term of 107 to 138 months incarceration in the North Carolina Department of Correction. Defendant noted an appeal to this Court from the trial court's judgment.

I: Motions to Dismiss

Defendant initially contends that the trial court erred by denying his motions to dismiss at the close of the State's evidence and at the close of all evidence.[5] We disagree.

*543 When ruling on a motion to dismiss for insufficient evidence, the trial court must consider the record evidence in the light most favorable to the State, drawing all reasonable inferences in the State's favor. State v. McCullers, 341 N.C. 19, 28-29, 460 S.E.2d 163, 168 (1995). "The State is entitled to every reasonable intendment and inference to be drawn from the evidence, and any contradictions and discrepancies are to be resolved in favor of the State." State v. Malloy, 309 N.C. 176, 179, 305 S.E.2d 718, 720 (1983). The only issue before the trial court in such instances is "`whether there is substantial evidence of each essential element of the offense charged and of the defendant being the perpetrator of the offense.'" State v. Turnage, 362 N.C. 491, 493, 666 S.E.2d 753, 755 (2008) (quoting State v. Crawford, 344 N.C. 65, 73, 472 S.E.2d 920, 925 (1996) (internal citation omitted)). "`Substantial evidence is relevant evidence that a reasonable mind might accept as adequate to support a conclusion.'" Turnage, 362 N.C. at 493, 666 S.E.2d at 755 (quoting Crawford, 344 N.C. at 73, 472 S.E.2d at 925).

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Related

State v. Abshire
670 S.E.2d 236 (Supreme Court of North Carolina, 2008)
State v. Benson
372 S.E.2d 517 (Supreme Court of North Carolina, 1988)
State v. Butler
567 S.E.2d 137 (Supreme Court of North Carolina, 2002)
State v. Bruce
337 S.E.2d 510 (Supreme Court of North Carolina, 1985)
State v. Leonard
266 S.E.2d 631 (Supreme Court of North Carolina, 1980)
State v. McCullers
460 S.E.2d 163 (Supreme Court of North Carolina, 1995)
State v. Crawford
472 S.E.2d 920 (Supreme Court of North Carolina, 1996)
State v. Turnage
666 S.E.2d 753 (Supreme Court of North Carolina, 2008)
State v. Abshire
666 S.E.2d 657 (Court of Appeals of North Carolina, 2008)
State v. Malloy
305 S.E.2d 718 (Supreme Court of North Carolina, 1983)
State v. Raines
653 S.E.2d 126 (Supreme Court of North Carolina, 2007)
State v. Abshire
670 S.E.2d 236 (Supreme Court of North Carolina, 2008)
State v. Abshire
667 S.E.2d 724 (Supreme Court of North Carolina, 2008)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
677 S.E.2d 540, 2009 WL 1658559, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-worley-ncctapp-2009.